Star Trek : Picard's Standard
by Gojirob
Summary: Tales told of and around the crew of the Enterprises D and E, united around a man who will compromise on anything but his core beliefs.
1. A Nightmare on Holodeck Three

A Nightmare On Holodeck Three

By Rob Morris

Data saw Troi literally sinking into her counselor's couch, but did nothing to rescue her, anymore than he had attempted to save any of his friends.

"You're next, pale-face! Eventually, everyone has to sleep."

Data found the computer controls, and directly inputted the cancellation of the out-of-control entertainment.

"You will find that statement an inaccurate one with me, sir. Now I will have my friends back."

The fiend with the claw-fingered glove disappeared, screaming. Data did not derive satisfaction from his demise, but rather only from being able to beam Picard, Riker, Worf, Troi, Geordi and Doctor Crusher to Nurse Ogawa's care in Sickbay. There, they would be revived from the seemingly real traumas they had been subjected to. Barclay entered the now-empty holodeck, looking nervous as always.

"There is no cause for concern, Mister Barclay. The offending program has been shut down. You need merely see to it that all files pertaining to it are isolated and removed from our computer, pending final erasure."

"Bu-But Data—Commander, sir, that's just it!"

"What is it, Reg?"

Barclay looked paler than Data as he spoke.

"I've already done a top to bottom scan of all systems. Commander---not the computer, nor any device on this ship, ever had any files on this 'Freddy Krueger'!

"So what do you think?"

LaForge looked at Barclay, then again at the paused holo-figures of Barclay and Data.

"I just don't know, Reg. The fates themselves were pretty horrible, in keeping with the character's motif of using your fears to get you. But the old 'what if it wasn't a dream?' ending seems almost too clichéd after all that."

"It—is a classic."

"No, it is. I just worry that your narrative is depending on that twist too much. Look, Halloween is still weeks away. We have plenty of time to tweak it to perfection. Before it's done, I'll bet you scare even Data. Now, I'm going to turn in."

"Tha-Thanks, Geordi. And Geordi?"

"Yes, Reg?"

Barclay smiled, and flexed the fingers on his right hand in a forward roll. He spoke in a deeper voice than normal.

"Pleasant Dreams!"

LaForge stared at his friend.

"That one was even worse, Reg."

Barclay stopped, shrugged and nodded.

"I-I know."


	2. Scoundrels

**Scoundrels**  
by Rob Morris

Okona pressed his luck.

"I was the one who told that Ferengi partner of yours to find you on Risa."

Vash didn't answer. Didn't even tell him to shut up. So he tried again.

"So, I'm talking to Kirk, Archer and Pike, and each bet me their Enterprise that I couldn't get you in the sack before the end of this month."

Okona had known Vash long before either of them met Picard. She had tried to steal his passenger's heirlooms and he had been smuggling for her archrival. All in all, a friendly, if abusive relationship, with a lot of screaming about who did what wrong to who.

"So when we do it, I'm going to film the whole thing and send it to FedNews. I'll try for a lot of buttshots, okay?"

She finally responded, albeit weakly.

"Why are you even trying, when you know what kind of mood I'm in?"

Okona kept his eyes on sensors, his mind on her.

"Because you've been in this mood since Q dumped you at DS9. What did Q do?"

Vash looked up.

"What do you mean, what did I do?"

Okona got confused.

"No! What did---Q---do?"

She nodded.

"Oh. Well, it wasn't any one thing. It was just a lot of near misses. A volcano edge here, a laser bolt there---giant flesh eating plants--everywhere. He greatly enjoyed getting me naked, somehow."

Okona let that one go. Some targets were just too big.

"I thought you enjoyed near misses. Strike that--you love and adore near misses. As for that last part, you used to love to ask people, 'What are you staring at?'."

Her eyes, which usually darted about finding new treasures, really seemed lost.

"He did it too often. A near-miss became an almost-died. The bold and the naked became the vulnerable and the muchly laughed-at. I was a toy, Okona. A toy that intrigued him, till it didn't anymore."

Okona gave forth with tenderness and understanding.

"Well, DUH!!!! He's Q, for God's sake! Mess with your brain, play dice with your eyes, put an Aldebaran serpent in front of you! God, I hate three-headed reptiles. Ya know, there was this one critter in this old Japanese vid....."

Vash cut him off.

"Okona, I don't need a long story. I need me back. I need me back, badly. Because otherwise, they may as well just put me in with one of my finds as a relic of past glory. I still haven't forgiven Sisko for that pass he made at me, either!"

Okona tried to remember that, and couldn't.

"Sisko didn't make a pass at you."

Vash nodded.

"That's what I haven't forgiven."

"Uh---huh. Well, we're here."

Vash saw what looked like a micro-wormhole fissure.

"You're not planning to fly into that, are you?"

Okona smiled an obnoxious Q-esque smile.

"I sure am."

Vash would not give him the satisfaction of screaming, as they flew in. She did hold her breath, though.

"We--we flew through it?"

Okona shook his head.

"Noper. Around it. It was a cluster wormhole. Several small, avoid-if you're smart, fissure wormholes that hide---"

He pointed at an asteroid, and a ship that lay on it nearby.

"---ta da! A large, stable, completely passable wormhole. I'm meeting a friend for dinner. You'll like him. Fellow smuggler. Great sense of humor. Get your mind off of everything."

The other ship was fair-sized, and circle shaped except for the very front, which curved out in two horned sections.

"Hey, I like him already. That hunk of junk is even more of a museum piece than your ship. Although--where is it from? I've never seen anything remotely like it."

Okona shrugged.

"He is a smuggler in his corners, nooks and crannies, and I do in mine. We don't compete, so we talk. Besides, does it make sense for aftermarket dealers to trade evidence?"

Vash was a bit thrown that she'd forgotten so fundamental a rule. In a moment, the linking up was done.

The other pilot came through, dark-haired and a bit weatherworn, though handsome to Vash's eyes. Apparently, the somewhat regal-looking woman with him thought the same. While there was no physical resemblance, this lady had something of Jean-Luc about her. She was a leader. Her hair-style suggested that she had always had someone else on hand to do it for her. She was rich. Her easy handling of Vash's scoping out of her man said the rest. She was his wife.

"Hey, Okona! Honey, this guy once gutted his entire ship to help me refit, when we were on the run after Y4. Took me years to pay him back."

The woman nodded.

"Then not only do I and my husband owe you, Mister Okona, but so do all my people. You have my thanks."

Okona was a bit thrown that his free-spirited hiding-place mate had found so serious a life companion.

"Well, you know--H--he was good for every credit. Glad to be of help."

He tried to change the subject.

"You know, pal, I stopped here a few times during The Cardie War---about eight years back--you were just nowhere to be found."

The other pilot laughed.

"I was on ice, Okona. Literally. Some reward-seekers had collected on a debt I owed an old fiend of mine."

Vash decided to test her counterpart.

"Guess that didn't sit too well with you, huh?"

The woman folded her arms.

"Have we been introduced?"

Vash almost felt a physical shove. The regal lady was good. Okona gulped.

"Oh, geez...where are my manners? This is Vash, an old friend of mine. A mutual friend asked me to pick her up from a space station. A starship captain named Picard."

The other pilot blinked twice.

"Picard Of The Stargazer?"

Okona and Vash looked at each other, and spoke as one.

"The man gets around."

The regal lady now answered Vash's question.

"Well---Vash, it didn't sit very well with me at all. So I did something about his captivity."

Vash tried to regain her ground.

"Lemme guess. You issued a strongly worded letter of protest?"

"No. I strangled the SOB while my brother cut his mercenaries to pieces."

Vash felt totally outclassed, and she couldn't stand that feeling.

"Wow. Daddy must be proud."

The other pilot put a restraining hand on his wife.

"Vash? Mentioning their Dad is a really, really bad idea. I mean, really bad."

Okona glared. Vash gulped.

"Uhhh...I'm sorry?"

The regal woman calmed down.

"Apology accepted."

And when the meal of various dishes was done with, the other couple took their leave of Vash and Okona. Vash shook hands with the regal woman.

"Look. I had the wind knocked out of me recently, by someone who knew how to do it. That really put me off my mark. I'm sorry for the way I acted, and for some of the phrasing I used. I have an attitude. I usually don't try and clobber people with it. Truce?"

"Truce."

"Okona? Next time---we're gonna bring her brother and the kids. These quiet little dinners? Paradise. Being married to The President means kissing a lot of diplomatic butt."

Okona mock-slugged him.

"Ahhh...you know I love ya, ya big galoot! And tell Furball not to be a stranger, either."

"Sure will. I still can't believe you speak his language."

Okona always meant to mention the translator chip, and ask why his pal didn't have one. He always let the moment pass, though.

"Errrr...yeah."

Almost out the door, the regal woman turned back to them.

"Oh, Vash? One more thing?"

Vash smiled, feeling calmer.

"Yes?"

The woman opened her palm. Flying out from Vash's kit bag came a metal cylinder, which the woman caught and reattached to her belt.

"That was a gift from my brother. Don't try and steal it again."

Vash felt her pride of place roar up.

"Or you'll what?"

The cylinder ignited into a long, coherent beam, and the woman leaped into Vash's face, all in one motion. The seat Vash had been using split neatly in two. For a split-second, Vash even had trouble breathing. Like lightning, her rival rejoined her husband.

"Or next time, I'll show you what my father was like."

With her slightly intimidated hubby in to, the woman finally left. Vash looked angry.

"Okona--can they usually see in here, as they pull out?"

"Sure. I usually wave goodbye before going to warp. Why?"

Vash began to disrobe.

"I am going to moon that little witch, and give her man an eyeful that he won't ever forget. And then you and I are going to forget Q, Jean-Luc, and the whole damned Alpha Quadrant."

Okona smiled. She had promised casual, wild sex. She had risked instant death. She was getting naked to offend someone who was stuck-up. She had stolen someone else's property.

"Good to have you back, Vash."

--------------------------------------------------

FAR, FAR AWAY......

"Hey, guys! Good to have you home. The kids are......"

The woman bypassed her twin brother, and kept yelling at her husband.

"You--are--a--PIG!"

"Honey, C'mon---I didn't stare at her for all that long!"

The bedroom door slammed, and the arguing continued.

"There's nothing like a lively marriage-- and those two have got a lively marriage."

Wisely, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker waited a few weeks before asking exactly what happened.


	3. Volunteered

**Volunteered**  
by Rob Morris

21st Century, Arlen, Texas, 2001

Hank Hill looked at the niece he loved dearly, but who more often than not, wholly exasperated him by being out of touch with a great many hard realities.

* * *

24th Century, USS Enterprise-D, 2370

Jean-Luc Picard looked at the Admiral who he respected greatly, but who more often than not, wholly exasperated him by being out of touch with a great many hard realities.

* * *

ARLEN

"Now, Luann, I realize that trying to help hardcore drunks who don't want to be helped--and grow violent when you try-- may be a worthy cause to some people, but if its all the same to you, I'd just as soon opt out. I'm not one for new or risky things. There's the dolphins, your mother, your roommates, your beauty school, Bobby's modeling. Not one of those things worked out--even partly so."

* * *

ENTERPRISE-D

"Admiral, my ship and its crew have bragging rights to a great many things. But while I realize the vital nature of these many missions for Starfleet Intelligence, our track record in these matters is undeniably poor. Gul Madred, Ro Laren, Ambassador T'Pel. If this new mission is merely a request, and not an order, then I fear its one I must refuse."

* * *

ARLEN

"Let's just say that, you and I have different ways of looking at things. There's certain things I don't wanna do, and I'm never gonna want to do them, no matter how cleverly you set the whole thing up. Fact is, I almost get resentful when I don't want something done, and you just can't get that I don't want it at all."

* * *

ENTERPRISE-D

"It has become apparent that my galactic view, shall we say, lacks something. If this were not so, my comfort level and the corequisite skills of myself and my crew in matters of skulking about and dashing away would be greater. If this viewpoint affects my overall standing within Starfleet, I accept that. But I must say, Admiral, that I begin to greatly puzzle over why people such as ourselves aboard Enterprise, who show great reluctance and little deftness, continue to be tapped for missions for which we are clearly ill-suited."

* * *

ARLEN

"So, the answer is No. Not sort-of No. Not talk-me-into-it No. Not I'll-enjoy-it later No. No, in this case, means No. Just tell those folks down at the charity that I'm not interested."

* * *

ENTERPRISE

"So the answer is a firm, unequivocal No. I rather strongly feel that others are better suited and have better temperaments for this manner of mission. Give my regrets to Starfleet Intelligence."

* * *

ARLEN & ENTERPRISE

She looked at him glaringly.

"But I already told them you'd be happy to do it!"


	4. Mon Petit Couer

**Mon Petit Coeur**  
by Rob Morris

She was screaming---again.

"You hate me! You all hate me!!!"

Molly O'Brien had taken just about enough.

"Yes! Yes we do hate you, cause you're so dumb! Now shut up!"

No-Name leaped at her.

"Make me!"

"I will! I'm half-Irish, and you are out of luck!"

But she was also half-Japanese, a heritage her mother reminded her of when she caught the punch. .

"Mom!!!"

Keiko merely glared at her.

"Molly, you will control yourself, or I will feed you to a Pag-Wraith!"

"But I hate her! She's grumpy all the time and she has no name!"

The other little girl had gone back to sulking.

"Her needs are special. Besides, how would you feel, if we had to send you away?"

"But it's for her health. You and Daddy don't mean anything bad by doing this."

"Nevertheless, she still feels like she is losing a second family."

Molly remembered something about having to leave, and then not. It was neither a clear nor a pleasant memory.

"Yeah. But she's gonna be happy here-- won't she?"

Keiko seemed unsure.

"Almost all peoples agree. Happiness isn't found in a place. It's found in your own heart."

When the transport stopped, the O'Brien children got out. Keiko picked up No-name, and then took note of a raven-haired human girl.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Donna Riker."

Keiko turned to her daughter.

"Am I missing something?"

Molly shook her head.

"You said if we had to go this far with someone as depressing as her, I could bring a friend. Uncle Kyle and Doctor Pulaski said it was okay."

Keiko looked at Donna.

"Are you at all like your big brother Will?"

"Uh-huh. Will says, I'm just like he was, back when. I think I'll have boobs like that bouncy ex-girlfriend of his, when they come in."

Keiko looked at Yoshi.

"Stay away from her, or I will feed you to…yadda."

Donna asked Molly a question.

"What's the yadda look like?"

Molly whispered.

"But--don't the other two heads argue with the middle one?"

Despite Keiko's warning, Donna set up shop as Doctor Riker, about an hour later.

The fields of the Picard Vineyard were vast and open, and the air was fresh and sweet. No-Name stirred.

"Why is my headache gone? It almost never goes away."

Molly tried to be nice to her. She really did feel sorry for No-Name, despite her attitude.

"That's part of the reason we're here, dummy."

"Part of the reason you're leaving me here, you mean. I still hate you all."

At the door to the chateau, Marie Picard stood, waiting. With her migraines gone, No-Name slept peacefully, and Marie put her to bed. She then sat down with the O'Briens. Miles, who had moved schedule and Earth to be there, arrived as tea was ready

"Who is she, exactly?"

Miles told the story.

"Mrs. Picard. Early last year, Captain Sisko and I encountered a lost colony. It seemed the world in question had a naturally occurring inhibitor for technology—any technology. But the people eked out a living, and under the guidance of a leader who was anti-tech, they made it work."

Marie sipped her tea.

"Tres convenient, Non? That such a leader should crop up in such a place?"

Keiko nodded.

"Captain--then Commander--Sisko, thought much the same thing. But this person had a cult-like hold on the inhabitants, so all his questions were stifled and punished. They tried to break him. Miles here persevered, and discovered the anti-tech field was not natural. But while incensed over this deception, the colonists chose to remain. Their leader, conducting a vicious double-blind experiment, was arrested for the deaths of those who could have been treated with modern medical care, but for her interference."

Marie put her hand to her head.

"You know, my Robbie, he would have loved such a place as you describe. But the woman? He would have snapped her neck, for depriving him of conscious choice. Much like the fire deprived me of him, and my son, my little heart."

Keiko was not above holding Marie's hand, as she gathered herself.

"Apologies. I am bothered, and their passing feels like nails through my wrist. So what of this girl?"

Miles O'Brien continued.

"When Keiko and I returned to this world to fetch witnesses for the cult-leader's trial, the worst was discovered. You see, we sentients are ourselves a form of technology. You can't just send out EM-waves and kill just machines. A native virus had mutated under the tech-inhibitor field. This girl was the only survivor. Originally, we thought about adopting her themselves. But DS9 is a tech-dependent environment. She is allergic to such concentrations of tech. Another gift from Dear Leader Alixius, who has now been put away for life."

Marie shook her head.

"But what of Bajor?"

Keiko answered.

"Bajor needs to use massive amounts of land-reclamation technology, to counter what was done during the Cardassian withdrawal. In fact, the only world that has no pressing and immediate need of tech-aid is Earth itself. Vulcan, for example, has massive and redundant water replication technology."

Miles nodded.

"Madame Picard, will you take her in?"

Marie knew why she was being asked. Her late husband's anti-tech beliefs made the vineyard a virtual paradise for a tech-allergic child. But she had a question.

"You keep calling her---'her'. Has the child no name?"

Keiko shrugged.

"Among the customs of her people was that children name themselves, when they are ready. Understandably--she isn't all that ready."

Marie stood up.

"You ask too much of me. I have lost everyone I loved this past year. This child may stay for a time, of course. But my heart has become shattered and small. I have no place for her, here."

Five minutes of silence passed, broken by the sudden entry of Molly and Donna.

"Daddy! Mommy! No-Name ran off into the woods, crying. She seemed really bad, this time. What happened?"

Marie stared out at the setting sun.

"We must find her. Those woods are dark and deep."

* * *

The no-named girl ran long, and she ran far, and if she perhaps noticed that she was hopelessly lost, she likely did not care.

"It's not fair! Notfairnotfairnotfairnotright!"

She had thought that somehow, the O'Briens would be different. That they wouldn't leave her behind, using her stupid allergy as an excuse. But it was for her own good, they always said. Well, these woods didn't have any stupid tech that she could see or feel. So she would just stay here, maybe forever.

"Hun--ny, Miles and I would love you to stay, but DS9...."

She mocked her would-be adoptive families, one-by-one.

"Human? We don't care that you're human. Why, we even have Cardassian children here. But Bajor needs to reclaim the land...."

"…but Mrs. Picard lives on a big property almost without tech. No more allergies!"

She responded to the unseen man.

"Liar! You hate me! I'm a bother to take care of, and you don't want that. So I hate you too!"

If she knew the truth, again it didn't matter. She was furious with life's myriad and multiple injustices. At last, she found a sunlit spot by a small, almost hidden lake. Fishing there was a young human male with dark hair, looking almost a teenager but not quite.

"Come and sit down. I won't tell anyone that you've run to here."

She was suspicious, but also tired as all get-out.

"You better not. I don't want those people to find me. I hate them all. Do you live around here?"

The boy, obviously a native of the region, shrugged.

"I used to. But after a recent fire, I'm afraid I had to leave. Now I can only visit occasionally, and no one's really supposed to see me about. But it's all right if you do, I suppose. Since you'll be staying here too."

She shook her head.

"No, I won't. That witch, Mrs. Picard, wants to get rid of me, and she doesn't even know me yet."

The boy turned away, a cold glare developing on his face.

"I think that you shouldn't call her a witch. It's not fair and its rude besides. Just like you, she's lost family this year. The people she loved most dearly are gone now, and there's a hole in her heart as a result. You could help her to patch up that great hole, and she could help you to patch up yours."

She went back to sulking.

"I don't have a hole in my heart. All I got is allergies. They're not even my fault. It's that stupid Alixius' fault. She made us stay on that place with no tech, so I never got used to it. I was glad when Commander Sisko arrested her, and then they took apart that stupid box."

The boy laughed.

"I'm sorry. It's just that my father always said that the Antichrist would likely come in the form of an imposed false messiah, rather than merely one who tried to seduce the faithful. He would say that it is no test of faith to merely be tempted--one must oppose evil actively, where one sees it. Father saw evil everywhere, mind you. But he was no simpleton. I miss him, and will have to go back to him soon. May I give you a gift before I do?"

"Oh, No. I may not be a teenager, but I know all about the 'gift' boys try to give you."

The boy's face went from pale to beet-red, almost instantly.

"No...No! It isn't that sort of thing. Not at all. Will you take my name as your own? I know you haven't chosen a given name, as yet. Mine can be a girl's name, with little effort."

"I'll think about it. But I guess I have to leave here, soon, too."

"No. You'll stay. You can even come and visit me, if you do. I'd like that. But give her a chance. She's ever so nice, once she has someone to care for."

Chief O'Brien walked up to the lake, after the little girl had gone to sleep.

"Thank you for watching her. And I was very sorry when I heard—that you won't be applying to the Academy."

The boy shrugged again, and smiled at the euphemism.

"I imagine that I'll be searching out the true final frontier, is all. And there's no need to thank me. They really do need each other. Aren't you surprised to see me, though?"

"Kid—I come from Ireland. People like yourself are just part of the furniture there."

When the searching parties gathered back at the recently-rebuilt chateau, no one was more relieved than Marie Picard to see the small bundle carried by Miles O'Brien. She took and held her.

"I will let her stay. Forever, if she should want. How odd. The thought of another dead child on this property made me think about this living one more clearly. But please, at least stay for a few days, so she may adjust better."

No-Name's eyes opened.

"Mrs. Picard? I have a message for you."

Marie smiled, and received a smile back. She felt a part of herself reawaken.

"Yes, my dear?"

"I met a boy, who said he used to live around here. He asked if you would take care of me. Then he said I could have his name, but only if you approved."

"Whatever name you want is yours, my little heart. And of course I will take care of you. I was just being silly, before."

Molly's impatience won out, as usual.

"So what's your name?"

She smiled, and Marie felt a deep, deep chill. But it was the chill wind one felt on Christmas and New Year's, so it was a good chill. The little girl spoke her chosen name.

"Renee Picard."

* * *

Back at the chateau, Marie Picard tucked in a small form, and hung back up a sign she had removed from over the doorway of her late son's bedroom, now that of the daughter who needed her. Keiko helped her straighten it, and then read it aloud.

"To Renee--Mon Petit Coeur."

Broken hearts, little and big, eventually begin to heal, if only given time and place.

That night, the Picard family was reborn.

It was a happy moment.


	5. The Really Long Straw

What was the Enterprise-E really doing during The Dominion War? Vital  
missions, my butt!

----

The Really Long Straw  
by Rob Morris

Sela shook her head.

"Picard, the Federation must surrender all bases within one parsec of Gorlanden  
Morg."

Picard sipped his Long Island Iced Earl Grey Tea. His tenth that day.

"I think that's Gorlanden Cor."

Sela grabbed a handful of blue tortilla chips, and turned over to finish her  
even tan.

"Yeah, whatever."

Picard yelled out to Doctor Crusher.

"Beverly? Sorry about what's-her-face...you know, the immortal woman."

Beverly looked over from her beach clinic for over-stressed, over-bulked male  
bodybuilders.

"You're that round-headed guy, right?"

"She's forgiven me. Wesley? You sure we can't persuade you to rejoin Starfleet?"

Wes wandered about, de-ageing the ladies who were once hot, and moving forward  
the young girls who would be, stopping at about nineteen and a half in most  
cases.

"No, sir. I totally disgraced my uniform."

"Then why are you still wearing it?"

"Hello!? Can we say 'magnet?"

"Isn't the Traveler concerned with you using your abilities that way?"

But the Traveler just sat and listened to the sermons at the nearby Temple Of Saint James Buffett of The Keys.

"Oh—it's all so true."

Worf smashed his head through ten solid blocks of ice, and then chatted with his  
competitors.

"So he thinks he's Kirk reincarnated, the Bajoran is always insubordinating her  
mouth off, while the gene-guy and the Cardie actually have the nerve to think  
that no one's figured it out yet..."

Data walked out and made an announcement.

"If the entrants will assemble in the rather large stadium with the seventeen  
jumbo-tron screens, I will begin the vetting process for the Videogame Women's'  
Nude Volleyball Tournament. It should be noted that we will not be wimping out  
as Xbox did."

Geordi walked up to the Horgon concession stand. He pointed at one that stood  
twenty feet tall, and weighed well over a ton.

"Fifty of those."

Someone saw Riker topping Deanna's Damnation-By-Chocolate Ice Cream with  
butterscotch pudding.

"Commander? Isn't that just a bit much for someone who wants to keep the  
Counselor's figure?"

Riker grinned evilly.

"She'll work it off. All of it."

Deanna sat with a troubled Admiral while staring at her blessedly empty Mailbox  
files, wholly free of reminders of her age and admonitions to attend obscure family functions.

"Sir, if the Federation wants to delay retaking Betazed for another year or two, I think the Dominion will respect our patience."

Finally, Picard bravely refused yet another offer of relief while getting his thrice daily back-walking massage.

"No, sir. We will stand here for this entire war, if need be..."

He looked up at the clear skies and felt the ocean's breeze.

"...we will all die before surrendering Risa."


	6. The ExIncursion

Summary : Kira is a patriot in any universe. But even a patriot must  
know when to hold 'em, and.....

The Ex-Incursion  
By **Rob Morris**

Parallel Universe, 2370

The Bajoran Ship 'Orb Of The Temple' had a mutiny on its hands.

"Gul Winn, we must withdraw!"

Seeking election to the Legate Council, Gul Winn Adami was not one for  
hearing this.

"Do you concur with Major Kira's treasonous view, Sergeant Laren?"

"I'm afraid I have to, Gul. When it was just Enterprise we were facing,  
it was one thing. But now...well, look for yourself."

She did look, and in that way she had, somehow she did it without truly  
seeing at all.

"None of that matters. Is this the sort of spirit that placed the  
Cardassians under our boots, instead of the other way round? No. It is  
weakness. Now, I was told to make this border incursion, to show the  
Federation where NOT to place its spy array. I have yet to destroy that  
thing, and nothing short of the revealed will of the Prophets will  
either move me or Central Command so long as it stands. I should clap  
you both in..."

Kira fired her weapon, and was able to get away with it, merely because  
Winn could not believe she would. Laren shrugged as Kira pushed her out  
of the center seat.

"Great. Now what about Central Command? Sacred borders, Greater Bajor,  
revealed will of the Prophets, and all?"

Kira ordered the ship underway, and out of that sector as soon as  
possible.

"I wouldn't worry, Ro. It may just be my opinion, but I think I can  
convince Central Command that the sudden appearance of nearly 300,000  
Galaxy-Class ships IS the revealed will of the Prophets."

The Bajoran Union sued for peace later that day, despite Federation  
assurances of a now-sealed temporal rift. The Argus Array suffered an  
unrelated cascade failure. The next one was built without as much as a  
peep from any of the other powers.


	7. They Have Ears

**They Have Ears**  
by Rob Morris

PLANET ARKARIA, 2369

Picard looked out at the small sea of Admirals and Commodores, and made his best pitch.

"The terrorists who found their way onto Enterprise were a ruthless lot, to be certain. But they did not rely on that ruthlessness, in their attempts to steal the tri-lithium byproducts from our warpcore, just prior to the baryon sweep. No, they depended merely on lax security. It was their friend, ally and helpmeet. Its why they nearly succeeded."

One admiral that Picard had only met once seemed not to catch his drift.

"Captain, I hope I'm not going to hear the same tired suggestion we always hear when this sort of thing occurs."

"Well, sir-you'll not hear it from me. No, there's no need to turn the UFP into an armed fortress. The upgrades I'm suggesting are relatively miniscule, only moderately expensive, and will keep most ships and bases out of operation for at the most two weeks, all other things considered."

The silence of those superiors he had known and worked with began to unnerve Picard, though of course he never showed it. Another relative stranger now spoke.

"Our Federation is an ongoing concern on multiple levels, Picard. The shutdowns you suggest would be a chain in our gear tracks, and for little tangible benefit, outside the hypothetical."

Picard gave up, but not before crafting a parting shot.

"If I had failed to stop that group, and make no mistake, I very nearly did not stop them, than the people who would have been killed by weapons fashioned from the tri-lithium resin would have not been at all-hypothetical. Sir. And heaven above help us if a madskull gets their hands on not tri-lithium resin-but tri-lithium itself. It shall all seem very real, then."

STARFLEET HQ, 2372

The newest captain of The Enterprise was also the previous one. But in that way lay a tragedy, and that was what Picard came to speak of today.

"I have seen two starships named Enterprise die in my time, one in historical files, one with my own eyes. The one died because some fool thought that a bright but decidedly non-Starfleet son of a legend could handle a genie like protomatter. In fact, it was the very process that certain people within Starfleet used to get him that protomatter that ultimately compromised the secret of Genesis. The next died as that same legend briefly awoke from a temporal nap. This time, it was a kind of Anti-Genesis. We call it trilithium. As I have related in my report, even though this seemed to mainly involve Romulans and renegade Klingons-in fact one of Soran's first raids was on a Federation base running extensive, massive simulations on trilithium technology. This base was largely unprotected. We provided the know-how."

Picard hated the fact that even those few Admirals he knew and disliked were not anywhere in evidence.

"Captain-I grew up with Kirk as my standard. But we can't give up being who we are, just for a few small safeguards. For example, arming that base would have marked it off to everyone, not just Soran."

"There are ways, Admiral, to effectively protect a facility without making it a gunnery station, so to speak. Also, personnel can be screened better utilizing information that they have already provided in their dossiers. No witch hunts, such as the late Admiral Satie lead. Just the old once-over done correctly."

"Some people would say that's a ton of prevention for an ounce of cure. A war waged against a what-if."

He wondered again how his fallen predecessor had ever suffered such fools.

"James Kirk would have disagreed, Admiral, had he been given the chance. I'm sure it all seems very, very real to his spirit. I know it does to my crew."

Picard got out, hoping that the people who dwelt in that facility would never know the pain of what happens when what-if's cease being what-if's.


End file.
